USW Urges Elected Leaders to Reject Taxpayer-Supported Auto Plans That Close Plants

USW Urges Elected Leaders to Reject Taxpayer-Supported Auto Plans That Close
Plants

Capitol Hill Teach-In Cites 7.2 Million Americans Affected

WASHINGTON, May 19 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The United Steelworkers (USW)
today urged Congress and the Administration to reject any taxpayer-supported
plan to restructure automobile companies that would export jobs instead of
strengthen the domestic industry.

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080131/DC12982LOGO)

North America's largest industrial union made the point today at a "teach-in"
on Capitol Hill sponsored by mayors, workers, business leaders, and labor
officials to educate lawmakers about the impact on their communities.

Nationwide, more than 7.2 million jobs are related to the auto industry in
supply and manufacturing, as well as in health care, education, civil services
and many more areas. Thousands of small businesses and local communities could
be irreparably damaged if the auto industry is allowed to fail.

"During our recent 'Keep It Made in America' bus tour, we met people from
across the nation who are terrified about the future of their communities and
their families," said Leo W. Gerard, USW International President.

"We met mayors, high school principals and firefighters who are worried about
the loss of tax revenue in their towns, small-business owners who say they
will have to shut down if manufacturing leaves their cities, and laid-off moms
and dads who desperately want to go back to work making auto parts. Some of
them are struggling to feed their kids, and they're angry that their tax
dollars could be used to export jobs," Gerard said.

The teach-in featured several videos documenting the impact of the auto
industry on communities such as Fort Wayne, Ind., where thousands of workers
making everything from gears and axles to windshield wipers are laid off, and
the impact has begun to trickle down to teachers, paralegals and others who
are also losing jobs. The videos can be viewed on www.usw.org or
www.driveamericaforward.org.

Doug May, a laid-off steelworker with more than three decades' experience in a
mill in Granite City, Ill., shared his story of personal struggle during the
teach-in.

"When we don't make cars in this country, we don't need to make as much steel,
auto parts, computer chips, windshields, tires and countless other materials
that go into the car. That means people like me don't have jobs. When we don't
have good jobs, we can't spend money in our local communities," May said. "But
it's about more than money. We're losing our right to a retirement with
dignity, to health care for our families, to an honest day's work so we can
pay our mortgages, send our kids and grandkids to college -- we're losing the
American Dream."

Michael Herron, bargaining chairman for United Auto Workers Local 1853 in
Spring Hill, said the crisis is about more than auto jobs, and Americans are
counting on their elected officials to do the right thing for the millions of
workers and their families who count on the auto sector for their livelihoods.

"If our country uses our taxpayer dollars to support the deindustrialization
of America, then they are subsidizing the destruction of thousands of
communities, millions of middle-class families and the futures of our children
and grandchildren," Herron said. "We need a plan that supports domestic
manufacturing and benefits not just U.S. companies, but the American people."

The USW, the Alliance for American Manufacturing, the Mayors and
Municipalities Automotive Coalition and others are urging Congress and the
Administration to:
-- Stimulate domestic demand for automobiles. For example, creating an
incentive program like cash-for-clunkers with a strong domestic
content
requirement and restoring credit for consumers and businesses.
-- Spend American tax dollars to support domestic jobs, investment, and
innovation, and reject off-shoring as a path to profitability for GM
and
Chrysler.
-- Restore cooperative innovation and research and development efforts. A
National Automotive Research and Development Program, for example,
could
provide incentives for companies to create programs that lead to
better,
safer, and more fuel-efficient vehicles -- built domestically.
-- Change health care policy to eliminate structural problems for the
domestic auto industry. The Big Three's foreign competitors benefit
from either national health care plans or through offering substandard
benefits.

-- Ensure trade policy promotes U.S. interests. The U.S. imports $41.5
billion in cars and light trucks from Japan and $7.5 billion for
Korea,
while we export only $534 million and $373 million respectively. We
must
address non-tariff barriers to trade in these markets, end currency
misalignment and aggressively enforce our trade laws to eliminate
unfair
trade practices.

The USW represents 850,000 workers in the U.S. and Canada employed in the
industries of metals, rubber, chemicals, paper, oil refining and the service
sector. For more information: www.usw.org/.

Contacts: Connie Mabin, USW, 724-601-5282, cmabin@usw.org
Gary Hubbard, USW, 202-256-8125, ghubbard@usw.org

SOURCE United Steelworkers (USW)

Connie Mabin, +1-724-601-5282, cmabin@usw.org, or Gary Hubbard,
+1-202-256-8125, ghubbard@usw.org, both of USW